Van Marcus Wins 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Manila!

Posted at 17:15 2008-11-17

This wasn’t just another tournament for the man they call "Sirens". He was a man on the mission. 12 months ago Van Marcus sat at this very same table, with a mountain of chips and expectations of triumph weighing heavily on his shoulders. Unfortunately that day his massive chip lead was eaten up and he finished a disappointing 5th. Today was about redemption.

Once again Marcus found himself at the final frontier of the PokerStars.net APPT Manila Main Event. He wasn’t out in front this time around, but his heroics on previous days saw him sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack as the final table took their seats.

It had been an amazing ride to get to this point for Marcus. He’d tangled with chip leader Tasha Ellis late on day one, capturing two huge pots with pocket aces within minutes of each other to end the day well placed towards the top of the leaderboard. His day two draw saw him take a seat next to the trash-talking David Saab – a man he’d been quoted as saying he’d like to punch in the face in one the PokerNews interviews. Marcus talked the talk, and Saab was the one left to walk out the door as Marcus’ pocket kings held against Saab’s ace-jack.

It didn’t stop there for Marcus. He blew the roof off the Hyatt Hotel and Casino when he managed to hit running quad threes after his opponent had flopped a set. A perfect-perfect for Marcus was just a taste of things to come. With chips to burn and safely into the money stage of the tournament, he went to war with pocket tens against the pocket kings of James Broom, but a third ten on the flop swept Broom out the door as Marcus eyed off another APPT final table.

Sitting comfortably with over 400,000 chips as the final table kicked off, you could sense that Marcus had brought his “A-game” to the table. Early on he was extremely tight. So much so that he didn’t win a single pot in the first hour of play. In the second hour the only hands he showed were pocket aces – once red, once black – and both times he only won the blinds and antes.

As Marcus sat back and watched the action, his opponents dropped away slowly, including Lee Nelson who added another final table to his resume – his first at the APPT – with a 6th place result.

Marcus found himself as the short stack on many occasions but each time he was able to dig himself out of trouble. Shortly after the dinner break Marcus made a move for his last chips holding {Qs}{Td} but found himself dominated by the {As}{Ts} of Michael Chang. A queen was in the window, but what followed wasn’t so pretty for Marcus as the {Qc}{7d}{Ah} flop left him with one less out than he started with. It didn’t matter, as the {Qh} promptly made an appearance on the turn to send the Aussies on the rail into hysterics.

Marcus was back in the game but it wasn’t long before he found himself in familiar territory – all in and needing help. He held pocket sevens but run into then chip leader Hyoung Jin Nam’s pocket queens. Again with only two outs in the deck to help, Marcus couldn’t believe it when the board ran out {3h}{7s}{Ah}{Kc}{Ac} to give Marcus another miraculous double up.

The play then reached four-handed with Marcus finding himself up against a trio of Koreans who had shown their loose-aggressive style was very effective at accumulating chips. Michael Chang was eliminated in 4th, leaving Marcus to take on Hyoung Jin Nam and Tae Jun Noh in a fierce three-way battle that stretched over four hours. Marcus again found himself short and when he open shoved from the small blind with {Kh}{Tc} he was not happy to see Nam call in the big blind with {Ad}{Kc}. Amazingly Marcus spiked a ten on the turn and once again had walked on water to survive.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment of the final table came on a flop of {4d}{6d}{7s}. Marcus check-raised the bet of Nam, before Nam moved all in. Marcus made the call with {8d}{9s} for a straight draw and overcards, but Nam defiantly slammed {8c}{5s} on the table for the stone cold nuts. The {Ks} on the turn brought Marcus no help, but incredibly the {5d} landed on the river to give Marcus a higher straight as he stormed to the chip lead!

Van doesn’t run like God, God runs like him!

Nam was unfortunate to bust in 3rd after a tremendous tournament, leaving Marcus and Noh to battle it out. Another three hours past to leave this final table as the longest in APPT history, as the two players fought an epic battle with neither player giving an inch. Eventually in a raised pot, the flop of {8s}{3c}{6s} created the action we were looking for. Marcus moved all in over the top of Noh’s opening raise, and Noh made the call in the first all in confrontation of the heads-up battle. Noh held {Jd}{8d} as Marcus stuck to his come from behind strategy and revealed {7d}{9d} for the straight draw with an overcard. All the suspense ended when the {Td} hit the felt on the turn to give Marcus a straight, as he dropped to his knees in pure joy at capturing the major international poker title that had previously eluded him.

While Marcus rode his luck throughout the tournament, the patience and application he showed on this final table emphasized his determined focus to succeed in this event. Marcus is a world class player, both live and online and this win confirms his status as one of Australia’s best players. Marcus collects US$162,856 for his efforts in Manila and takes home the coveted APPT trophy.

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